On August 23 war was declared against Germany by the Emperor of Japan, and his Minister left Berlin. The war was popular in Japan as a war of revenge for the part played by Germany in 1895, and the arrest of Japanese in Germany and the insults offered to the Ambassador when leaving Berlin intensified the feeling. The blockade of Kiao-chou was announced on August 23 and in a special session of the Diet, opened on September 5, a war appropriation of yen 53,000,000 was unanimously voted.
An Austrian cruiser, the Kaiserin Elisabeth, chanced to be in Kiao-chou at the beginning of August and the Austrian Ambassador at Tokyo had proposed that she should be disarmed and interned at Shanghai, but on Japan's taking action against Germany he left Tokyo and the vessel was left to her fate.
The time which had been allowed to lapse before the declaration of war had given time for the German garrison in Peking and German reservists in China to come to Kiao-chou to strengthen the garrison there. Enormous sums of money had been spent on the defences, and the capture of the place was generally recognised as a difficult feat. The landing of the Japanese at Laoshan Bay was effected on September 2, but the British contingent, under General Barnardiston, did not land until September 23-24, and arrived at the front as the Japanese were finishing their first engagement on September 28. General Kamio, the Japanese Commander-in-Chief, began the bombardment of the fortress on October 31, after the exodus of non-combatants had been permitted. The bombardment lasted a week, during which several forts were silenced and captured, and on November 7 as the Japanese were preparing to rush the fortress, the white flag was run up. In the early stages of the siege there had been considerable waste of heavy ammunition by the besieged, but the early surrender of the place was a surprise to the besiegers. The force under General Kamio numbered 22,980 officers and men with 142 guns, while the British contingent consisted of 910 officers and men of the 2nd South Wales Borderers and 450 of the 36th Sikhs. The German force was estimated at 5,000 men, and over 4,000 were made prisoners. The escape of the German cruisers early in August had deprived the harbour of some of the defences which had been expected, but extensive mine-fields had been sown which interfered with the activity of the attacking fleets. The German vessels which remained in harbour, as well as the Austrian cruiser, had all been sunk before the surrender of the fortress.
The news of this success excited great enthusiasm in Japan and General Barnardiston, who visited Tokyo shortly afterwards, received high honours from the Emperor and city. Much consideration was shown towards the prisoners from Kiao-chou and much liberty was granted them in their movements.
The satisfaction of the country in the feat performed by her army did not, however, prevent severe criticism of the new Budget in the Diet which was opened on December 7. Under the Budget provision was made for an expenditure of yen 556,000,000, and a decrease in revenue of yen 81,000,000 was forecast. No special provision was made for war expenditure, as it was intended to meet this from accumulated surplus of previous years under authority which would be asked for when required. A specially obnoxious clause provided for the increase of the Army by two divisions, a project which had already occasioned the fall of several Ministries, and which now in a division on December 24 in Budget Committee led to the defeat of the Government by 213 votes to 148. The Diet was dissolved the next day.
Gloomy as had been the scenes which ushered in 1914, the year closed with a record of achievements of which the nation might well be proud. Her enemy Germany had been driven from the fortified position which she had prepared in Shantung, the German railroad from Kiao-chou to the provincial capital was in Japanese hands, and obligations towards her ally, Great Britain, had been nobly fulfilled. Not only had British trade in the China Seas received such protection as to enable it, after a short interval, to be carried on without fear of molestation, but in the Pacific work had been done which greatly strengthened Great Britain. The Marshall Islands and some others in German possession had been seized and handed over to the Australian Commonwealth; and the strength of the Japanese fleet had assisted towards the safe convoy of Australian troops and probably also towards the rounding up of the German squadron off the Falkland Islands and its destruction there.
Those countries which had long harboured suspicion of Japan's action had to acknowledge the disinterestedness of her conduct. Her retention of Kiao-chou was the only point on which attacks were still made, ignoring the fact that Japan's offer in August to surrender the port to China after the war was conditional on Germany's acceptance of the Japanese ultimatum.
II. CHINA.
In October, 1913, Yuan Shih-kai had been elected President of the Republic by the National Assembly. In November of the same year both Houses decided to suspend their meetings, as a quorum could not be obtained, owing to the action of the Government which had declared void the seats held by the Kuo-min-tang party, in consequence of their continuous opposition to all Government measures. The action of the President in dissolving Parliament (Jan. 11) created no new situation, but somewhat strengthened his position. At the same time it was felt that some kind of a quasi-representative body was needed, not only to temper criticism of the Republic as such, but also to furnish the President with information. In November a Central Administrative Council had been called into existence by Yuan Shih-kai, and though its birth had been greeted with contempt owing to its lack of legislative powers, this or other similar bodies under different names with slightly altered functions usurped the place of a representative Council, not without advantage to the country, throughout the course of 1914.
Yuan Shih-kai, after cancelling the draft Constitution drawn up by the Committee appointed by the National Assembly, commissioned in January a new body of sixty members to draft a fresh Constitution. This appeared in March. Under it, the future National Assembly was to consist of one Chamber, styled Li Fa Yuan; the Cabinet was to be abolished and a Secretary of State, on the model of the United States of America, was to take the place of the Premier, under the President as the supreme head of the State. Cabinet Ministers were to be converted into Heads of Departments and an Advisory Board was to be established. Some of these recommendations were at once acted upon, and in May an Advisory Council of seventy members, including the Vice-President, was appointed. But it was not until December that the scheme for the formation of the Li Fa Yuan, now spoken of as the Legislative Council, was finally adopted. Under it the Council consists of 275 members, of whom those representing the Provinces and Peking will be elected by Electoral Colleges, elected by qualified electors, but the remainder will be elected by the Central Electoral College direct. The session of the Assembly will extend from September 1 to December 31, unless the President sees fit to order an extension of two months, and members will hold their seats for four years.